Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Smokey Minestrone with Tortellini & Pesto

“Have extra
chicken stock on hand just in case. The second time I made this soup, it seemed
as if the liquid reduced more than the first time, and I needed a little more
stock before adding the pasta and kale. I only added about another half a cup
of stock, though, and this rarely affects the bright flavors of reduced soups
since the flavors will become more concentrated. Extra stock is also handy in
case you’d like to loosen the soup up as leftovers later.” Kmont

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons
olive oil

4-6 slices
bacon, chopped into small pieces

1 large
onion, peeled and chopped

2 large
cloves of garlic, minced

1 leek,
trimmed and sliced thinly

3 carrots,
peeled and chopped

2 ribs of
celery, chopped

1 zucchini,
chopped

1 potato,
peeled and chopped

4 cups
vegetable or chicken stock, low-sodium preferred

1 15 oz. can
of cooked chickpeas, drained

1 28 oz. can
of peeled San Marzano tomatoes, with juice

Salt

1 cup kale,
chopped fine

1 9-ounce
package cheese tortellini (frozen works well)

Aged balsamic
vinegar, for drizzling- optional

Grated
parmesan cheese for garnish- optional

Preparation:

Heat 1
tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add the bacon
and cook for about 5-8 minutes, or until well-browned and starting to crisp.

Add another
tablespoon olive oil to the pan (if the rendered bacon fat is sufficient, skip
the oil; if the bacon fat is excessive, remove all but two tablespoons), then
the chopped onion, garlic and leek.

Continue to
cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until softened, about 3-4
minutes.

Add the
chopped carrot, celery, zucchini, potato and stir occasionally for about 3
minutes, leaving the vegetables still slightly crisp.

Add the
stock, the chickpeas, and then the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as
you go.

Add a few
generous pinches of salt to taste.

Bring the
soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes,
until the

potatoes are just tender.

Add the kale
and the tortellini, and continue to cook over a simmer until both are tender
and

cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Taste and add
more salt if necessary.

Serve
garnished with a spoonful of the pesto, a few drops of the aged balsamic, and a

generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Notes:

Since I did
do some things a little differently than the original, this time the above
directions are

with my changes. See the link above all that if you’d like to
try it from the original recipe. As they

suggest, you could leave the bacon out
entirely if you wish.

We didn’t use
the balsamic as a garnish, but, again, the parm and pesto were insanely good

and well worth the extra effort to chop and grate, all from scratch and fresh
ingredients.

The kale is
not really noticeable at one cup chopped, so if you’re a big fan of the stuff
(love it